Comme des Garçons Crushes It for Spring 2013

Crush was the single word that the house offered by means of an explanation.
There are no ‘nice pants' or jackets or coats from this spring collection from Comme des Garçons but there are ideas to think about as one left the show. The central question of the show, I think, is: What exactly is the function of real fashion design in an age where there are so many clothes and so much information?

PARIS--Down beneath the massive concrete pillars of the ‘Docks’ by the Gare d'Austerlitz at the Cité de la Mode et du Design (it was once a famous late night cruising area, now it's the hot spot for fashion shows, go figure), there were four lights anchoring both ends of the Comme des Garçons runway. Suddenly the lights turned on and a model walked out wearing what appeared to be layers of heavy ivory muslin--the kind used to cut patterns for a first sample of a garment. The layers were folded and sown on top of each other. The model's headdress was made of different brass objects glue together into a small tower and she had long white hair brushing down one side to her knees.
That was the opening look of Rei Kawakubo's spring show for Comme des Garçons. What followed was that the amorphous panels of muslin arbitrarily arranged in the first few looks began to take shape--into short sleeves and shorts, satin ruffled sleeves, a pleated skirts, parts of a jacket. Midway through the show, black became the dominant color with splashes of red, purple and navy all mixed in. And for the finale? A series of toile evening dresses with satin sleeves jutting out from the neck and front of the dresses, with parts of wide leg pants hinging on one side, a section of a jacket attached to other, and all of it finished off with a train.
Crush was the single word that the house offered by means of an explanation. But that was already obvious in the brass metal cans as hats and the pile of fabrics and bits and pieces of clothes--a sleeve here, a pant leg there–-all melted into a dress that looked as if it had been through battle. It reminded me of the set of Alexander McQueen’s fall 2009 show, where, in front of us was a giant pile of garbage all coagulated into a small mountain sculpture, but a garbage sculpture nevertheless.
There are no ‘nice pants' or jackets or coats from this collection but there are ideas to think about as one left the show. The central question of the show, I think, is: What exactly is the function of real fashion design in an age where there are so many clothes and so much information? There lies the risk that all that noise and stuff eclipses an appreciation for design.

The renaissance at Dior and Saint Laurent-–the highlight of this Paris show season-–renewed the discourse on design. And yet all that talk of heritage and modernity--of looking to traditions for a path forward--can be crushed into a garbage ball just as the piles of pant legs, ruffle sleeves and jacket panels can easily be sown into a great cocktail dress. That design should be starting over every season seemed to be the point here.

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‘The infinity of tailoring’ was how Rei Kawakubo summed up her stellar, ambitious, and at times emotional fall 2013 collection for Comme des Garçons.
The classic men's suit, the kind you'd find on Saville Row, was the foundation and from that basic building block came endless variations:

Fashionista contributor Long Nguyen is the co-founder/style director of Flaunt.
PARIS--Halle Freyssenit, an old train freight located behind the Gare Austerlitz in Paris’ 13th arrondissement, is a popular destination this season for Paris shows.
But only a handful were invited to the depot, an empty storage area on the other side near the rail tracks, late Saturday afternoon for Comme des Garçons. Inside were four sets of benches set in a square and two large white lights. Eschewing conventional locations to stage its shows has always been the brand’s trademark of independence.
The audience members attending a Comme des Garçons presentation expect deliverance from yet another conventional fashion show. Whether or not they actual like what they see depends on one's personal taste. But without fail, a CDG show always provokes a thoughtful debate.

PARIS--It has been a very long time since I sat through an entire fashion show and afterwards I was still trying to figure out what the designer was really up to. That happened late on Saturday afternoon at the Comme des Garçons show, which was a much different show than the stunning collection presented by Junya Watanabe for his eponymous line earlier in the day.
"White drama" was the theme to this puzzling but absolutely beautiful and meditative show from Comme des Garçons where a model wearing a white duchess satin knee length dress with a puff skirt and a bow that seemed to tie her hands together (not to mention the large headdress) opened the procession. This led to an all-white collection that displayed not only incredible workmanship in tailoring and embroidery with sumptuous coats and short dresses, but a show that stirred varied emotional reactions from the audience.

Fashionista contributor Long Nguyen is the co-founder/style director of Flaunt.
Enclosed in the envelope with the invitation to the Comme des Garçons show last Saturday afternoon, which took place inside a small hall at the Hôtel de la Monnaie, was a small printed card. “Comme des Garçons will have extremely limited seating this season. This is Kawakubo’s design; please kindly understand that your regular seat will not be possible. Thank you.”
And so it was: At the show, there were only two small bleachers and two rows of chairs, which formed a square for the models to traverse perpendicularly to and from one corner.
At any Comme des Garçons show, it is always the fashion that matters, not the hierarchy. It was ironic that a note was sent to the few people invited asking them, in essence, to temporarily suspend their habits. By the time the sound of footsteps on the wooden bleachers ceased and the first model walked out in a long, shiny, black python print trench--without any back but instead tied together at the shoulder--the audience knew they were in for a fashion treat.